Fall 2017

About

The purpose of MIS306 is to prepare you with practical knowledge of systems development life cycle (SDLC). During the semester, you will be exposed to the entire analysis and design process and will learn how to use a wide variety of methods and tools that support each phase of the process. You will also develop practical skills to conduct feasibility study, needs assessment, prototyping, application design, budgeting and project documentation.

This course is part of the BS Degree in Business Administration program preparing you to be a creative problem-solver, effective communicator, critical thinker, and team player. By the end of this class, you will be more knowledgeable in business essentials, and more sensitive to cultural, social, ethical, and global business challenges.

Apply all aspects of the Systems development Life Cycle (SDLC) planning phase.

Apply all aspects of the Systems development Life Cycle (SDLC) analysis phase.

Explain system implementation.

Describe the components of an information systems architecture design.

We will cover the following topics in this course:

Foundations for Systems Development

Managing Information Systems Projects

Planning

Identifying and Selecting Projects

Initiating and Planning Projects

Analysis

Determining System Requirements

Analyzing System Process Requirements

Analyzing System Data Requirements

Design

Designing Data Systems

Designing Application Systems

Designing Interface and User Experience

Implementation

Deploying Information Systems

Maintaining Information Systems

This course is project-based and hands-on with a short lecture at the beginning of each session and brief reflection at the end. We will identify and explain essential ideas and new concepts through classroom activities and apply them to your semester-long project. The class activities are designed to give you firsthand experience with the IS analysis and design and directly related to your group projects. I believe meaningful learning happens when you develop skills in exploring, and addressing real-world problems. Therefore, rather than formal lecturing, I will help you learn from analyzing real cases through experimental inquiries. I value your critical reflection in my class and I treat the class as a professional community. Please be professionally mature, not college cool.

Class Schedule

Follow the link for the tentative class schedule. I reserve the right to make changes in the schedule, as appropriate, based on your feedback, the specific course situation and class level. Any changes will be announced in class and posted on the Google Classroom page. Please read the syllabus closely and consult it for answers to questions about course policies. Please ask for clarification about course policies or assignments as soon as possible. DON’T wait until the due dates to ask questions about the assignment.

Class Schedule

Online Community

We will use Google Classroom through the semester. Google Classroom is a blended learning platform to enhance your learning experience. You can ask questions, submit assignments, download materials, check your grades, share interesting things and help each other. To access Google Classroom page, please use one of the following codes (Fall 2017 Only): Ixezicg (Section 01) and ytz6tl (Section 02).

Evaluation

My evaluation goal is to develop your capacities, competencies, and confidence to take responsible action for personal and professional success. I hold high academic standards but help you meet those standards by making expectations clear, acknowledging your efforts, providing feedback while being accessible to meet for guidance. Course evaluation is for improving the learning process and not judging you. Therefore, this course is evaluated completely as a project course; that is, there are no midterm or final exams and the grade comes from the successful completion of one real-world project that includes:

Reports

Due: 1 week after activity

Pts.70/100

Individual project reports (14 parts, each 5%)

Budget

Due: December 13

Pts.5/100

Group project budget and budget narrative

Presentation

Due: December 13

Pts.5/100

Group Project Final Presentation

Portfolio

Due: December 20

Pts.20/100

Group Project Portfolio (Formatted as a proposal)

There is 20% penalty for submitting an assignment after the suggested deadline. If you miss a deadline, you will need to complete all assignments before December 20 to receive credit. However, as far as you meet the suggested deadline, I will give you a second chance to improve and resubmit your work by the end of the semester. Optional Readings will be also assigned on weekly basis.

Project Details

During the semester, you will be working closely with four assigned team members on a real IS project. Each project team will choose an Information System project on or off campus. I will help you with project identification. However, I encourage you to identify a social problem that can be addressed by an information system in your community of interest. Your community of interested could be any organizational entity that has a capacity of utilizing information technology for systematic improvement.

You will be asked to work on different parts of your project in a group throughout the semester. However, you will submit the results of your works individually (Part A). Please see Course Schedule for deadlines and points. The evaluation will be carried out in such a way that everyone’s work can be identified and assessed fairly. You should submit your budget estimate, final public presentation, and final portfolio as a Group. The project portfolio will be the revised collection of your semester works and should be designed as an IS project proposal. You should include your client feedback as well.

Your Group Project will be graded based on completeness, feasibility, innovativeness, effectiveness and professional presentation. However, your project client satisfaction is the key to getting a good grade. Your project portfolio should have seven sections plus an executive summary and Appendices as needed:

Executive Summary (1-page)

Introduction including client background, project goal, and rationale

Planning including feasibility assessment and baseline project plan

Analysis including requirements, use cases, activity and sequence diagrams, and process model

Budget & Budget Narrative including the direct and indirect costs and cost justifications

Appendix A: Project Management plan and protocol

Appendix B: Technical Documentations (Optional)

Applications

You need to document your group project portfolio, manage your project activities, and communicate your object-oriented design using one of the following suggestions. The instruction to install the software will be provided on Google Classroom.

You can install Microsoft Office 365 for free. Here is the link to the SDSUid website, it explains about the services it provides, including access to Microsoft Office 365: http://sdsuid.sdsu.edu/services.html

You should have received a welcome email about your SDSUid account and services, followed by an activation email with details on how to claim your account. Please make sure the activation email was not sent to your spam folder. It was branded with the SDSU Logo and SDSUid just like the welcome email, but was sent from a DoNotReply email address. Please do a general search for “SDSUID” in the email you have on file with the university and see if you can find it. If you can’t find the email, please visit the Library Computing Hub help desk with your RedID card so we can assist you. We are located on the second floor of Love Library, enter through the south entrance next to Open Air Theater.”

You can sign up for the free version for Asana here: https://asana.com. You need to use only one platform throughout the semester to manage your teamwork. You also need to add your instructor as a team member. The effective use of a project management tool is a part of your final grade (20% portfolio).

Visio is available through Microsoft Imagine (formerly Microsoft Dreamspark). You can use this link to sign-up: https://goo.gl/mRw8WM You will receive an email in a week confirming that they have been registered. You will then have to log-in and choose a password to download Visio.

Grade Scale

Final letter grades will be assigned based on the following scale. You will receive feedback on your progress throughout the semester, but you are always welcome to inquire about your current point total.

Systems Analysis and Design, 6th Edition

Policies

Class Rules

Act professionally by being competent, active, reliable, honest, respectful, positive, and supportive. Your professional maturity is more important than your technical knowledge. Please respect your classmates by refraining from any disruptive behavior during class. Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to: text messaging, talking on a cell phone, the use of computers unrelated to the class, side conversations, arriving after class starts or leaving before class ends, disruptive comments during lectures, and any non-class related activity. You can use your laptop and other personal electronic devices during class but all cellphones must be turned off before class. If you must leave class early, please notify me before class begins and sit next to the door. Please respect your fellow classmates by following these rules.

Act professionally by being competent, active, reliable, honest, respectful, positive, and supportive. Your professional maturity is more important than your technical knowledge. Please respect your classmates by refraining from any disruptive behavior during class. Disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to: text messaging, talking on a cell phone, the use of computers unrelated to the class, side conversations, arriving after class starts or leaving before class ends, disruptive comments during lectures, and any non-class related activity. You can use your laptop and other personal electronic devices during class but all cellphones must be turned off before class. If you must leave class early, please notify me before class begins and sit next to the door. Please respect your fellow classmates by following these rules.

Class Attendance

Regular attendance is expected and essential to get a good grade. If you have a serious situation that requires your absence, be sure to inform me in advance. If you are on an athletic team and may miss some sessions, please provide me with a letter no later than the end of the first full week of class so we can communicate about assignments and other course content. It is your responsibility to look ahead on the syllabus and deal with any conflicts prior to the conflicting event. If you will be absent from class for a religious observance, please notify me of any scheduling conflicts by the end of the first full week of class. In all cases, students who miss class will be responsible for completing all assigned work. Please note that attendance per se will not be evaluated, but if you are not in class you cannot complete the class activities.

Class Participation

Most of the class time will be devoted to hands-on activities with as little lecturing as possible. You are expected to participate in class activities and discussions. You are free to ask questions and debate the topics at hand. There is no right or wrong question/answer in this class, and you are strongly encouraged to participate especially if you found the subject difficult or problematic. We will also break into active learning sessions several times throughout the semester to apply the skills you are acquiring. Your enthusiasm and attention in these sessions directly would affect your understanding. You will also have an opportunity to lead a discussion in class. Keep in mind that leading a discussion does not mean that you are required to understand everything in the textbook. Creativity is welcomed, but the goal is effectively enhancing the learning environment.

Communication

Announcements will be made in class or via Google classroom regarding specific course requirements, evaluation, and other expectations. All such announcements are binding, regardless of whether you miss a class or fail to check your e-mail or Google classroom page on a particular day. Please feel free to contact me as soon as possible if you are having any difficulty with the course assignments, class projects, feel overwhelmed, or if instructions are unclear.

You are welcome to ask your question via email. I encourage you to use your SDSU email address. Please use a clear subject line that starts with “MIS 306:”, provide context, and use your full name. Please do not ask questions via email that will require a long response. Do use office hours for any questions that require extensive feedback or a back-and-forth conversation. If you are worried about your grade at any time during the semester, I strongly encourage you to meet with me as early as possible. Do not wait until the last week of class to discuss your grade, as it will be too late to work on improving your grade.

Academic Integrity

The integrity of a university depends upon academic honesty, which consists of independent learning and research. Academic dishonesty includes cheating and plagiarism may result in suspension or expulsion from the school. All students are expected to abide by the rules of conduct outlined in the SDSU Student Conduct Code. Violation of the academic honesty portion of this code will automatically result in a course grade of ‘F’. The complete Code can be viewed at the following site: http://go.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/srr/conduct.aspx

You also agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for detecting plagiarism of such papers. You may submit your papers in such a way that no identifying information about you is included. Another option is that you may request, in writing, that your papers not be submitted to www.turnitin.com. However, if you choose this option you will be required to provide documentation to substantiate that the papers are your original work and do not include any plagiarized material.

Accommodations

The instruction is inclusive to everyone attending the class. SDSU also provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with special needs. If you need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. You can also learn more about the services provided by visiting the Student Disability Services website.

To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon special need cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning difficulties and require accommodations beyond what provided by Student Disability Services, please notify me by the end of the first full week of class. I will try to provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations for all students with special needs with the equitable opportunity to excel academically.

Audio/Video Recording

No student may record any classroom activity without the express written consent of the instructor and other students who may involve. If you have (or think you may have) a special need such that you need to record classroom activities, you should contact the Office of Student Disability Services to request an appropriate accommodation. Any recordings made in connection with a disability accommodation are for the student’s personal academic use only and may not be distributed in any manner to any other individual.